Summer Town Hall Recap

HUECU’s Summer Town Hall was held this past Friday, August 13th, with President and CEO Craig Leonard, who answered questions on everything from student loan forgiveness to HUECU’s new out-of-state mortgages! Keep reading for a brief recap and click here to view the full recording of the event.

Craig began Friday’s event with answers to a few questions regarding student loans, including queries about student loan forgiveness and refinancing as an international student. Craig explained that, unlike federal student loans, the Credit Union is focused on private student lending and encouraged students having trouble making payments to reach out to our student loan team to navigate the repayment process. “We don’t take a cookie cutter approach,” said Craig. “We handle each situation case by case.” Student borrowers can reach the Education Lending department by email at huecu_edu_loans@harvard.edu.

Craig continued to answer questions about transferring funds, and gave an explanation of HUECU’s new peer-to-peer money transfer solution, Zelle. “If you’re not familiar with the term Zelle, most likely you’re familiar with the term Venmo,” explained Craig. Zelle is a quick way to send money using information as simple as a recipients contact information and can be used between anyone with a U.S. banking account.

Craig also announced that, as of just this month, HUECU is now able to offer mortgages in all of New England, with plans to extend even beyond those states in the future. He explained that the HUECU membership often extends beyond Massachusetts and that the Credit Union is committed to continuing relationships with members no matter where they end up. A big part of that commitment is through mortgages, and with many people refinancing this year, it’s a great time to be able to offer out-of-state loans.

Craig finished out the meeting by taking questions from online attendees. He spoke on plans to reopen branches, how the Credit Union is doing financially (answer: well! Low interest rates means being able to help a number of members refinance their mortgages).

Town Halls will continue to be held quarterly on Fridays at noon so that members can submit questions and catch up with the latest HUECU news. A full playlist of past town halls can also be found on HUECU’s YouTube channel. In the meantime, HUECU support is always available to help answer questions, and updates are posted regularly on social media!